“LeBron James and Russell Westbrook channel their inner ‘Showtime’!”: All-NBA Lakers teammates show off their new and improved chemistry against Mobley and the Cavaliers

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook dominate the Cavaliers on the open floor as they get a few ‘Showtime’ caliber plays in. 

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t exactly been Western Conferences powerhouses in these first few games of the 2021-22 NBA season. They started the year off with two losses to the Warriors and the Phoenix Suns but barely survived against the Grizzlies and the Spurs, before losing to the abominable OKC Thunder. 

On the day of James’s NBA debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers 18 years to this date, ‘The King’ plays against his home state team as a Laker. The 1st quarter for the purple and gold was beyond atrocious as they piled on a whopping 10 turnovers and allowed Darius Garland to dismantle them in the pick ‘n’ roll. 

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The second quarter started off with a similar level of sloppiness but with a few Carmelo Anthony buckets here and there, they were looking to get back into the game. Of course, as the quarter winded down, LeBron James showed off a bit of his dominant side. 

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook go off on fast-breaks. 

Even in his 19th season, LeBron James is trucking over guys who are over a decade younger than him. He’s done everything from nearly out someone on a poster to chase-down block Collin Sexton after a rather egregious attempt at a pass to Anthony Davis. 

What got Staples Center roaring however was the connection Russell Westbrook had with LeBron James out on the open floor. On separate occasions late in the second, Russ found James on a fast-break, resulting a few ‘Showtime-esque’ buckets being made.

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Instead of being down by double digits, the Lakers have evened the game out at 54 a piece going into the 3rd quarter. It’ll be interesting to see if LeBron will look to be as aggressive in the 3rd, as he was in the 2nd, especially since coming off his right ankle soreness.